Life With a Crow
by BrodieAnne
Summary: This is a series of connected one shots inspired by Sons of Anarchy. They currently center around a female character, who is the daughter of Clay, sister to Jax, wife to Juice, and ward of Happy. Some of these pieces will be flash/micro fiction, others will be longer. The rating is a safeguard in case I get carried away. These are not in chronological order.
1. Chapter 1: June 2008

She hated feeling ordinary. She loathed having to pretend to be ordinary. And for what, her safety? Like she actually cared about her own safety. She'd risk death every day if it meant she spent them with him. It wasn't fair, he was her husband. Her old man. Who was her father to send her away. One little assassination attempt and off to Washington she goes. Her father had been sending people away for their own good for a long time. But she was the only one that always came back as soon as the latest threat was gone. The difference between her and her sister was simple. She saw Charming as her home. Clay was her father, and Gemma was the only Mother she'd ever really cared about, who'd ever given a damn about her. The only mother that made sense. She had a brother at home. Many brothers if you weren't counting blood or marriage as factors in family. She had people she actually trusted to watch her baby. Not a sister that she'd only seen in pictures for the last 10, hell maybe even 15 years.


	2. Chapter 2: June 2009

Her entire life. That's how long it felt like she had waited to see him. She felt nervous, like waiting to be around him after they'd shared their first kiss; terrified that he would treat her like he always did, like before everything had changed. Deep down she knew she had no reason to feel like this. He was her husband, the father of her child. He'd sworn before they'd married, before he'd permanently marked her as his with a crow, nothing would ever change the way he felt about her. She was his and he was hers.

She wasn't paying enough attention to her surroundings. The biker squeezed her knee half way through a turn, reminding her to lean with the bike, she was shocked that it wasn't second nature at this point in her life. She'd ridden bitch since she was old enough to hold on, and before that she'd ridden on gas tanks, safe between her fathers sting arms. She missed him too, she realized drifting back into her thoughts. She had been so angry when he'd sent her away while Juice was gone, she'd heard from Jax that Juice had been furious when he'd returned from Nevada. She could imagine. Coming home to an empty house. Wife and baby gone. Only a note with ink smudges from tears.

_It was the Mayans, Dad forced me to leave. You're still mine, and I am still yours. Be home as soon as he lets me._

She'd scrawled the name only he, Jax and Gemma called her, pressed her red lips against the receipt and then wiped the snort from her nose before turning a watery glare at her Father and the enforcer he was sending her north with. They were both unaffected, although the enforcer knew she would get through this separation, even if he hadn't known her most her life. That look, so much strength in the middle of so much pain, told him she would be just fine. The twenty something gently, but forcefully removed her daughter from her Fathers strong arms.

"We have to say goodbye to Gemma. Cissy needs to say goodbye to her real grandma before you send us to someone who pretends to be in our lives." Clay wanted to argue, but she'd left no room for it.


	3. Chapter 3: May 22nd 2007

She stumbled from table to table, trying to stay upright had never seemed so difficult. Sometimes she would stumble to a person between tables, who would place them so far apart? She caught sight of her brother and began her stumbled pinball themed walk towards his blonde head.

"Jackson," she'd slurred his name so badly it came out sounding like 'Jashon' which reminded him of when she was a baby. He places his hands on both of her biceps to steady her swaying form.

"What is it Darlin'" the pet name slide off of his tongue with more ease then it ever had with any other woman. He's never have to prove himself to this girl. She's just loved him since the day she was born, and he knew she'd love him until the day she died. That knowledge made him love his baby sister more than any other woman he had yet to encounter. Albeit the was love in a completely different form.

"I'm drunk." She'd stated it as if it was a secret, as if getting her drunk was not the purpose of the groups excursion. "Don't tell Daddy." If her confession and movements hadn't confirmed it, the reference to her father as 'daddy' made it scientific fact.

"I think Clay will be okay with it Sweetheart. It is your 21st birthday." She swayed a little before looking up at him with a perplexed expression.

"Jackson, why do people get drunk? Walking is harder and why are you spinning?" He chuckled until he recognized the new expression on his sisters face.

"Shit! Ma, Juice. One of you need to come get our girl." Gemma whisked her towards the bathroom and apparently made it on time. He knew that expression from all the times she'd had the flu. She wasn't family by blood, so she'd escaped his and Gemma's family flaw, but her shitty immune system was the only gift that her birth mother had given her.

The two women were back in no time. Jackson watched as Gemma passed the birthday girl off to Bobby Elvis on the dance floor. He had to admit, even drunk those two had moves. It's not too long until her boyfriend cuts in. The doofus is easily recognizable from the Mohawk and the skull tats. Jax looks away as the Puerto Ricans arms snake around his sisters waist.

She leans back against a chest she knows well and entwined her fingers through his tanned and calloused ones. They moved to the beat of the music, her grace leading his usually chaotic and clumsy movements. She was feeling much better since she'd puked. Being this close to Juice made her glad that her mother had brought a toothbrush in case she were to need it. She tilted her head back, looked at the face of the man she loved and puked all over him.

Her eyes fill with the tears that always come with getting sick, and the embarrassment only added to it. Juice pulled her to the side she hadn't contaminated and walked her towards the door. Gemma follows in case she would be needed. Once outside he pulls his soiled shirt over his head and tosses it into a conveniently placed trash can. He sits her down on a curb that looks like it hasn't been puked on lately and kneels between her bent knees. He pulls her hands from her wet eyes and kisses each of her palms.

"You okay Bits?" She shakes her head, indicating that she is not okay.

"I'm so sorry baby, I didn't think I'd get sick again. I swear I just wanted to kiss you, and it just came up on me, and then, your shirt." That last part came out as a muffled sob. She wasn't normally a crier, she was a fighter by nature. Only a few people had seen her cry.

"Baby, it's fine. It's just a shirt. I'm more worried about you. You never cry, what's going on in that pretty head of yours." She sniffs, wipes the snot off her face with the back of her sleeve, and launches herself into his arms. If he'd been a lesser man, he probably would have toppled over.

"I just love you so much."

"I know baby. I love you so much too."

"Sometimes it scares me how much I love you."

"Don't let it scare you Bits. I'm yours, and you're mine. Forever. Deal?"

"Deal," she burrows her face into his neck. "Can we go home now?" Instead of answering he lifts her into his arms, motions towards her mother and leads her towards the car.


	4. Chapter 4: June 11th 2009

He'd found her with blood on her face. He know that if her father found out there'd be hell to pay. He climbed off his bike to where she was sitting on the sidewalk, nursing a busted lip and gingerly poking at a black eye that was getting darker by the second.

"What the fuck happened little girl?" Happy had always called her little girl. Ever since she was actually a little girl. She assumed that it was his version of a nick name.

"Some guy got a little handsy, then he didn't take no for an answer when he tried to buy me a drink, and then asked me to go home with him." She said it nonchalantly, as if she hadn't just been assaulted.

"Where is the bastard?" She laughed when he asked, or maybe it was at the growl in his voice. He'd become so protective of her in the last year, and he'd become more of a brother than an uncle to her.

"He's in the alley. I beat the shit out of him Hap. We should really go before the cops get here. I went a bit above and beyond self defense." He understood now, the little girl was a cage fighter. She could give most guys a run for their money and could tear apart a grown man that thought he was tough. He grabbed her by the elbow, pulled her up and towards the bike, gave her the spare helmet and climbed on. Her weight soon joined his, and he had to admit, to himself at least, the he was proud of that girl. She'd grown up right in a tough world, but still knew how to handle the bad shit. Bitch didn't even care that her face was all bruised up.

"You think we could not tell your pops or your old man about this?" She finally grabbed onto his waist as he kicked the bike to life.

"Wasn't planning on telling them shit." She'd be in just as much trouble as Happy if they found out. It was shit like this that kept getting her sent away.


	5. Chapter 5: October 2008

She was bored. She didn't like being bored. It reminded her of a college professor she'd once had, he'd told her 'only boring people get bored.' She smiled thinking about him, that man was a dirty old bird, but he'd made class interesting. She decided to ponder life. At first she was pondering life in general, having an internal debate about evolution versus a higher power. Thinking about evolution made her wonder about nature versus nurture. She'd always believed it was a compromise between the two. It took good parenting and a good environment.

She hoped that she was giving Cissy a good environment, she knew she was doing the best she could with her parenting. It had been a long year. She missed her husband. Her father wouldn't let anyone from Charming come to see her. He wouldn't admit it, but she knew that he was terrified of anyone following Sam Crow to her.

She had done the best that she could with her year. She'd gotten to know her older sister; but she wasn't nearly as close to Nikki as she was to Jax. Nikki would watch Cissy while she went to work or school, but it always made her uneasy. Nikki hadn't quite earned the trust to keep Cissy overnight. There were only two, maybe three if there was an emergency that she trusted to keep Cissy overnight. She wished one of them was here. While she loved her baby girl more than almost anyone else, she needed a break. She needed her husband. She imagined him giving her a tight hug, and rubbing circles into her back. He would have taken the baby and told her to have a bath, to go get a pedicure, he had this. But he wasn't here. And Happy sure as fuck wasn't going to watch the baby while she got a pedicure and some soaking done.


	6. Chapter 6: June 10th-11th 2009

She loved dancing. It was one of those things she was naturally good at. She could do just about any dance move. Her sister had convinced her to go to Seattle, "go dancing with your work friends, I'll watch the baby." She'd been hesitant, but she had a really rough week at work so she decided to go. She wasn't going to drink, because she didn't like drinking and she wanted to be able to take care of Cissy in the morning. That and she never drank without her husband, she wasn't good at fighting when she'd been drinking and she knew men commonly preyed on drunk women.

That's how she found herself on the dance floor between two random men, her boss was just and arm lengths away and in the same position. The girls were using the buddy system that night, so the two had their hands clasped together. The men were being pretty respectful, the guy in front of her had been handsy at first, but she'd held up her wedding ring and mouthed 'hands off' he'd immediately stopped. She thought that was funny. None of her boys would have paid any attention to a random girl in a bar requesting a hands off. She assumed that would be why Tigger had so many assault charges.

Kasey motioned that she needed to go to the bathroom, so they both disentangled themselves from the men they were dancing with and made their way over. The other two girls they were with were already in the bathroom. They girls from work had decided to take the last ferry home, but she was staying in Tacoma that night and Happy was picking her up around 1. It was about 12:30 and the other girls had to head out to make the 12:50 ferry, they asked her if she wanted to wait at the ferry terminal for her ride. She declined; she knew Happy would be furious if he had to ride any farther than the club. The three left and she went back to the dance floor.

She decided to dance with random drunk bitches so that no guys thought they had a chance of going home with her. She didn't want them to try, the only person she wanted to try was in California.


	7. Chapter 7: January 13th 2007

"You should call her." If that statement had come from anyone other than Gemma it would have been ignored.

"Why? She's never going to be a part of Cissy's life." Gemma snorted at the fact that Narcissa was less then an hour old and she was already being called by a nickname. The same had happened with Jackson and Elizabeth, it appeared to be a family trait.

"She's your mother Bits, she deserves to know." It's the first time that the younger woman takes her eyes off of the sleeping baby in her arms.

"You are my mother. You know. You've known everything about me. For my entire life. She doesn't even know my _name_."

"Baby, if Jax and I were on bad terms like you and her are, and he had a baby and didn't tell me? I would be crushed. Call her and tell her, for me." Gemma used guilt as currency, but hardly tried to guilt Beth into anything other than shopping.

"Okay Mom, I'll call her."

She called her after everyone had left, and Juice was snoring in his chair. They'd moved the baby to the nursery to let her rest.

"Hello?" The voice was questioning, she didn't even recognize the area code as the one her daughter lived in.

"Hi," she paused unsure of what to call her, this woman was not her mother. Gemma was her mother. "Evelyn"

"Lizzy is that you?" Beth cringed at the attempt at closeness, she hated when people called her Lizzy. _Everyone_ knew that.

"Elizabeth. Yeah, I was just calling to tell you that I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl."

"Oh darling I didn't even know you were expecting." The tone sounded disapproving, hurt, and elated all at the same time.

"Well you didn't know that I got married two years ago either." Gemma had not won that argument.

"You're married Lizzy? And you have a baby? We have a lot to catch up on," Beth fought the scoff she wanted to make. "What's her name? I can't even imagine what she looks like because I've never seen your husband."

"She's beautiful, she looks just like her Daddy. We named her Narcissa Marie"

"You named her Narcissa?" The tone could only be described as shock and horror. It was the same tone she had when Juice had told her about the mother that named her baby La-a, pronounced Ladasha, because the dash wasn't silent.

"You know. I really should be resting. Gemma just thought you should know about her." And she hung up the phone. A little irritated she had allowed herself to think this would go differently.


	8. Chapter 8: December 2004

After their first fight she'd stormed out of the clubhouse, driven home and sobbed onto Gemma until her face was all red and splotchy. Her mother had stroked her hair, made soft soothing sounds and told her it would be okay. She had repeated how much she hated him over and over again. Every time she said it her heart ached more. She knew it wasn't true. That's why she hurt so bad.

After they'd both calmed down they'd apologized between kisses and caresses. He'd cupped her face and kissed her sweetly. They'd spent the next few days in bliss, reminded of how in love they were. They worked on keeping their cool when fighting, not calling each other cruel names the next time that they fought. They promised to be more careful with each other. It was hard for her, she was harsh by nature, she had been raised by Gemma Teller-Morrow. She showed tenderness rarely and only to people who she felt close and comfortable with.


	9. Chapter 9: September 2003

When the cops came to question her she was furious. She knew that different people dealt with questioning in different ways. Gemma was smug and sure. Luann played innocent and cried. Tara actually faked complete ignorance to any illegal activities well enough that most cops believed her. Not Beth; no Beth got pissed and usually ended up having to be cuffed to a table during their 'friendly little chats.' She knew that the people she loved most were involved in some very illegal business but she couldn't help but see the best in them.

Jax was an amazing and incredibly supportive father, son, and brother. Clay was her father that had always encouraged and protected her. Juice was incredibly smart, loyal and would do just about anything for the people he cared about most. Tigger was willing to risk his life for his brothers and the families attached to them. It went on like that for all of the brothers, and really if she could spin a positive on Tig, she could make the rest look like saints.

She hated the way that the law would only point out the negative actions of her family members and try to get her to betray them. Needless to say the first time she got questioned was the first time that she had ever been charged with assault. Hale had ended up with a nasty broken nose that had never been set right. Luckily he had known that he had gone to far when he had insinuated that she had Stockholm syndrome and not actually love towards the members of the Sons of Anarchy. He somehow gotten the charges for assault on and officer dropped.


	10. Chapter 10: June 11th 2009

The bike went down just outside of Tacoma. They'd been sideswiped by a car and even with all of his experience Happy couldn't keep the bike upright. He realized that the bike was going to land on them and shoved off of it at the last second. Between the momentum of the push and the speed of the bike they ended up about 10 yards away from his Harley. He'd turned them as best he could while they had been gliding through the air so that she mostly landed on him instead of the concrete. He had made sure that her head landed on his chest, it had probably bruised, if not broken some ribs, but it meant she probably wouldn't have brain damage. At the last possible second he let his body go slack.

This is what they'd told her when she woke up in the hospital. Her leg was broken from where the car had hit them, and almost the entirety of her right side had road rash. Happy had successfully pulled the rest of her body on top of his. He had road rash all along is back, where his clothes had torn from being dragged on the concrete. He had one cracked rib and two bruised ribs on either side, from where her helmet clad head had slammed against his body. Somehow he had only gotten a concussion when his head hit the pavement.

He was the clubs enforcer, he'd even been dubbed the 'Tacoma killer.' They used him as an offensive weapon in their dealings, but he had instinctively protected her. He had managed to clear his mind when she had just panicked and had done everything he could to keep her from getting hurt.

When Evelyn walked through the door saying 'I'm her mother' Beth went crazy. She started screaming for someone to get her out of the room, vehemently repeating that this woman was not her mother. Finally two prospects had pulled her out of the room and toward the waiting room. A patched member stuck his head in and she told him to call Juice. As an after thought she'd added Gemma and Clay. She knew that Gemma would convince Clay to let her come, she was a mother lion and her cub had been hurt. Beth only hoped that her mother could convince her father to bring along her husband and brother. She was terrified and wanted to go home.

When Nikki came in a little while later with Cissy she was greeted warmly. Nikki had never pretended to be more than she was. They were sisters, but they had never been that close. They hadn't grown up together so they didn't know that much about each other. But she had become important to Beth in the year that she had been here. She was family, although Beth saw her as more of a cousin than a sister.


	11. Chapter 11: June 12th 2009

She knew the second that her family had gotten onto the same floor as her. Nikki had gone to change Cissy so she was alone in the room. She smiled as she hear Gemma's voice, an octave higher than usual and angry, which was hiding her fear. She heard her fathers voice booming at a nurses station.

"Elizabeth Morrow, what room." The nurse was smart enough to not bother with 'visiting hours are over' but simply told him what room to go to. Beth heard a scuffle as they tried to pass the waiting room. She could hear Evelyn screeching.

"Gemma Teller you are not her mother! You've poisoned my baby against me! You will not go into her room I won't allow it." Gemma snarled something nasty at Evelyn before correcting her loud enough for Beth to hear.

"It's Teller-Morrow sweetheart and that is my daughter. You need to remember that." Barely a second later the couple had entered the room.

"Mom, Dad! You came." She clung to her mother and father like a little girl and not the twenty-something she really was.

"We brought you a present sweet girl." Her father said before clearing away. Beth's eyes landed on her husbands and she couldn't help but just gasp, how had she not remembered how handsome he was?

"Oh Bits, I'm sorry we weren't here sooner." And then she was in his arms, he was gentle so that he wouldn't hurt her anymore. She pulled away just enough to kiss him, and it's just like she remembered. He wipes away the tears that are streaming down her face. She can't even bring herself to be embarrassed. Her tears were pure joy.

"Juice," she can't help but cry a little as she says his name. She's been wanting to be here, in his arms for more than a year now. "I missed you so much."

About that time Nikki comes back in from changing Cissy, the now three year old takes one look at Juice and says "daddy." Everyone in the room ignores the tears in his eyes as he takes his daughter from his sister-in-law.

"Hey baby, you remember me?" She grabs onto the fingers of the hand she's not being held with and squeezes his fingers like she did when she was a baby.

"You're Daddy. That's Nana and Papa." The little girl points to Gemma and Clay. Beth notices that Nikki had frozen when she had walked into the room and saw Clay standing next to Beth. Nikki walks toward the older man before wrapping her arms around him.

"Hey Dad," she says against his shoulder.

"Hey Baby." Clay cradles his oldest child against him, "I've missed you Nikki." She nods against him.

"I missed you too Dad." The exchange was awkward, and Beth couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She had always been daddy's little girl. She'd realized from being with Nikki over the past year though, that the older girl hated how her and her father had become estranged. She loved him, she just hadn't shown the love for the club and it's members at a young age like Beth had, it was the only reasoning that their mother needed when she had fled.


	12. Chapter 12: March 10th 2008

"What's he like?" It was one of the first questions out of Nikki's mouth after they had moved her into the spare bedrooms. When Beth called and told her that she needed somewhere to stay in Washington for an undetermined amount of time Nikki had realized she must be in danger, and offered up her house to a sister she'd spoken on the phone to a few times and the niece she had never met. Beth realized that's how Nikki was. She was similar to Gemma, family was family. If they needed something you could help with, you helped.

"Who?" The younger sister asked, she was changing a diaper, and looked up from her giggling baby.

"Clay."

"Oh, Dad, he's well he's Dad. He's got this really tough exterior, but he's not mean. Like he's usually only really _soft_ to family. Like Mom, Jax, Abel, Cissy and Me. But one time, this little kid was riding their bike in the street when Dad was riding by, the kid fell, so Dad stopped and helped the kid back up, he made sure they were okay. Thing is Nik, he stopped an entire chain of motorcycles. They were getting ready to head out of Nevada or something, so the entire club was following him." That's what Beth thought about her father.

"Oh." Nikki seemed a little taken aback.

"Why? What did Evelyn tell you about him?"

"Mom said he was mean, that he'd seemed like there was going to be some gooey center that she could get to, but she never found it. She said he was sleeping with Gemma the entire time they were married."

"That's not true, and they were never married." Beth cut in without meaning too, the instinct to protect her family too ingrained.

"Oh, well that's just what mom said." Beth felt like she had ruined a perfectly good moment between her and her sister.

"Did you know Jax, Opie and Moxie?" She wanted to continue this conversation. She wanted to get to know her sister.

"They were around, I don't really remember them, but we hardly have any pictures from my childhood without one of them in it." Beth's eyes lit up.

"That's right! Evelyn took all of the baby photos. Can I see them? I've never seen a picture of myself as a baby. I'm a little curious about whether Cissy looks anything like me." Nikki smile was tight lipped, but she left the room they'd turned into the nursery and went to get the pictures. "You know, I really appreciate you taking us in like this. It really means a lot to me, I've always wanted to get to know my big sister."

"So what was it really like with Clay and Gemma? I mean Mom has always talked about Gemma like this villian vixen, but you talk about her like she's your mother."

"Well, she is my mother, the only mother I can remember at least. Let's see, I was really little when mom and dad got married, but I'll try and explain it before then." She had finished changing the baby by this point and now she picked the baby up and motioned for her sister to follow her to the living room. "Okay, so I was born when JT was still alive. You remember who JT is?"

"Not really."

"JT is Jackson's father, Gemma's first husband. He is also the founder of Son's of Anarachy. Okay, so JT was still alive, and him and Dad were super close." She flips through the baby pictures that Nikki had brought her. She finds a picture of Dad, Jt and a baby, "This is Dad and JT, and I think that the baby JT is holding is you." Nikki nods her head confirming this. "I don't know about the timeline of all of this, but I know that I was born when Jackson was 8, I'm two years younger then Tommy."

"Tommy was two years younger than me."

"Yeah, so again, I'm not sure of the actual timeline but, JT was going to Belfast a lot, because some of the first 9 had set up a charter over there or something. Anyway after Tommy died, so around when I was four, JT started having an affair, Mom told me that Jackson has a half sister named Trinity that he doesn't know about. She's probably a year or so younger then me. Mom and JT weren't doing so good, but he was her first love, and even though she had started falling for Dad, she was trying to keep things going with JT. Evelyn and Dad were fighting a lot, well Dad says they always fought a lot. He says she tried to change him, and he wouldn't. But Evelyn took off with you when I was 3, so Gemma stepped up to help Dad with me, we were over at their house all the time. JT didn't care though because he knew that I needed Gemma. JT was all about family, that's why he started the club." Nikki was starting to look bored.

"Not until after JT died. He died a year or so after Tommy died." She did the math in her head, "so they got together when I was 5, but didn't get married until I was 7. Jax had a hard time adjusting to Dad as his new father figure, but he'd accepted me as his little sister right about the time that I was born."


	13. Chapter 13: July 5th 1991

_Authors Note: Since I'm posting these completely out of order I have decided to add the approximate date that each chapter is taking place. The chapters that have been posted previously have been updated to show dates with the chapter names if anyone was curious about the timeline. _

**July 5th 1991**

"Come on sweet girl, it's time to call Sissy." The young man scooped his giggling five year old into his arms and headed into the chapel for some quiet.

"Yay Sissy!" The little girl missed her big sister and didn't understand why they only got to talk on the phone now. Her and mommy had left and now she couldn't play with Sissy anymore.

Clay Morrow had set his ex and their oldest daughter up with an answering machine and he paid their phone bill so that Evelyn would agree to letting him speak to Nikki. Lately it seemed that he'd only needed to pay for the answering machine. He hasn't actually spoken to his daughter in at least 3 months. Evelyn didn't let Nikki call him. He sat in the chair closest to the phone and set it on speaker; he dialed the familiar number and sat back waiting while it rang.

"Hello?" Came a shy timid voice that Clay easily recognized as his oldest daughters voice.

"Sissy!" Came the shrill voice of his younger daughter.

"Beth?" The girl on the phone is confused, "is Daddy with you?" Her voice is excited now.

"I sure am, happy birthday princess."

"Happy birthday Sissy!" The younger girl exclaimed before starting her own rendition of the happy birthday song.

"Are you and Mommy doing something fun today?" The older man asked.

"Yeah! We are going to the zoo, can you and Beth come too?" She was old enough to know that he called because he lived in California, but too young to realize how far away that was from Washington.

"Oh I wish we could baby, but we are too far away. I hope you have fun at the zoo though." The younger girl was glaring up at him.

"Okay, mommy says I have to get off the phone because we are leaving soon. I miss you Beth, I wish we could still play together. I miss you Daddy. Love you." Clay is pissed that Evelyn is making her get off the phone after talking to him for less than 5 minutes, but not shocked.

"We miss you too baby girl. Love you too."

"Love you Sissy!" The five year old screeches into the phone. The call is disconnected. The young girl glares up at her father. "Why couldn't we go to the zoo with Sissy?"

"They're too far away baby, and Mommy doesn't want to see me." The girl pouts on her fathers lap before bursting into tears. He scoops her up again and the door opens to the chapel before he gets there; JT walks in.

"Church Clay." He nods to the crying toddler "Gemma's out front." The man with the toddler nods and heads in search of Charming's queen. She sees them headed in her direction, and meets him to collect the crying girl.

"Thanks Gem." She nods him off before focusing on the girl.

"What's wrong baby girl?" She tucks her tighter against her as she walks through the bikers and to the bar.

"Daddy said we can't go to the zoo with Sissy."

"Oh, I'm sorry baby. We can go to the zoo with Jax, Opie and Moxie next week if you want to? We can see the pandas and the manatees." The girl wipes her eyes on her sleeves and would have wiped her nose on them to if Gemma hadn't already gotten it with a tissue.

"Promise?"

"I promise baby."

_Another authors note: Moxie is Otto and Luann's daughter. She's two years older than Beth. I decided that Beth needed another girl to grow up in the club with. _


	14. Chapter 14: July 1997

**July 1997**

Her heart was broken. If her heart was broken she had no idea how Jax was able to get through the day to day. Tara had been like an older sister to her. Her and Jax were so great together, how could she just leave him. Leave them. Tara had told her that she could still call her if she ever wanted to talk. Beth couldn't do that to her brother, if she stayed close to Tara he'd think her loyalty had shifted. Her family came first. Even if losing Tara made her broken.

She had lost a sister before, a brother, a surrogate father, and many uncles. Besides Tara might not be gone forever. She felt ridiculous whenever mom heard her crying and would come in to sit with her. She was 11 now, it wasn't okay to cry into your mother anymore. She remembered seeing Jax curled against his mother openly sobbing after they'd found out JT had passed. He would never have sobbed in front of anyone but her and Gemma. She had only been five at the time, but she crawled up onto the couch with them, she'd tried to soothe Jax by running her fingers through his hair, like he did to her, but in retrospect she had probably just pulled pulled his hair. She hugged them both for a long time that day. She was sure she had fallen asleep trying to make them feel better.

Now Jax had lost another person, he'd lost his old lady. Beth was certain that having someone's crow meant you couldn't leave and never come back. So while she was hurt, and Jax was crushed, she was certain Tara would come back. She had to, it was inked into her skin.

_Authors note: A glimpse at what a crow means to Beth._


	15. Chapter 15: August 2008

**August 2008**

"Tell me about JC," Nikki had taken to questioning her younger sister about everyone from Charming. Part of it was her trying to remember the people she'd know when she was little. The bikers that she had baby pictures with, the children of the bikers that she had baby pictures with, and vague memories. She'd started out with their father. She barely remembered him. Evelyn and Clay had gotten into a fight when she was still pretty young about bills; since then they hadn't really kept in touch. He left her a voicemail every year on her birthday and holidays. She got birthday cards with cash and cash on Christmas with a note that always said 'Merry Christmas baby girl, I love you. Dad' She had confessed to Beth that for a while she thought that she hated him, but now she just felt like she'd wasted time. She desperately wanted to get to know him, but was terrified of the life that he led.

"Juice?" Beth questioned her sister, hearing anyone other than her call him JC felt weird, even she usually called him Juice. "He's everything." She'd left it like that and walked out of her bedroom to the nursery, her sister followed her with a puzzled look.

"What does that even mean Beth?" She asked it with a laugh, Beth like the difference between Evelyn and her sister. They asked almost the same questions and made almost the same comments, but Nikki was never accusing or judgmental.

"I don't know how to describe it Nik, it's just like ever since I met him, he's been my everything." Of course that wasn't exactly true, he'd slowly started to become everything to her since she had met him. It just felt like he had been everything to her, forever.

"Well, what about him. What's he like?" Beth was certain that Nikki should be a reporter, she'd gotten caught in all out interviews almost weekly since moving in with her sister.

"Okay.. Well he's really fucking smart, like with computers, math, and like school shit. He's practically retarded when it comes to common sense. Well that's not fair. Usually. He's usually really dumb about that stuff. I'm surprised that they didn't rename him retard when he patched." Beth had a wistful smile when she talked about her husband, even talking about his short-comings she was still so proud. "He can be really clumsy, he'll get hurt doing the stupidest shit. We couldn't get a house with stairs because I had this horrible feeling he was going to fall down them with the baby." She laughed then, "he managed to do that anyway. At mom and dad's house, she was only a month old, we were having family dinner, the entire club was there with old ladies, wives and kids. He went upstairs when she started crying and biffed it on the stairs carrying her down. I thought I was having a heart attack. He kept her safe though, he got real bruised up, almost broke an arm, but he kept Cissy safe." She locked eyes with Nikki.

"That's the thing about Juice, he would rather die than let something happen to anyone he loves. Especially Cissy or me, I've never felt safer then when he is with me, even before we got together. I feel ridiculous, because ever since I've been born, there have literally been men all over the country that were willing to die to protect me, that's the nice thing about being the national presidents youngest. I still have never felt safer, even Happy doesn't make me feel as safe as Juice, and I've seen Happy take a knife to the gut to subdue a man that was trying to hurt me." She cleared her throat, looked away from her sister. "That's how I knew, I had to be his. I needed him, feeling safe is something of a luxury when you're connected to Sam Crow. He's addictive Nikki. You're going to love him as soon as you meet him.

"He's hilarious, and generous. He is way to kind to be an outlaw, I'm terrified for him to do any real time without someone else in there with him. Jax promised to not let him get locked up alone. I know he can handle himself, it's just, I don't want him to retard out on something and get jumped. He's strong and tender, but he can be deadly. You need to remember that about these guys Nikki, if you see a men of mayhem patch on their kutte, do not fuck with them. They've killed for the club. Most of them are ex or retired military. Juice was in the Army. Second generation, like Jax and Opie usually aren't. He's not like the other guys, and he gets a lot of shit for it. He doesn't let it bring him down, just when dad implies that he isn't reliable. He's done so much to prove himself to dad and he still ends up doing prospect shit." Nikki could tell that their fathers lack of trust in Beth's husband was an issue for her. The younger girls nostrils flair a bit. "He's never been too interested in sweet butts or crow eaters. He's a fucking gentleman, which is strange because given my vocabulary it's pretty obvious I'm not the classiest of broads." Nikki snorted, yeah neither of the sisters were that classy.

"You really love him."

"Yeah, this is the longest we've ever been apart. I'm terrified that he's going to see Cissy again and she won't recognize him."

"He really is everything to you."


	16. Chapter 16: April 1st 2005

**April 1st 2005**

"Are you sure about this Bits?" He spoke into her ear, she was seated in his lap. They'd gone to Vegas for their first anniversary with her mom, dad and some of the guys. She wasn't drunk, at all, she was only 19. Juice had made her a fake ID but she was only using that for gambling. She didn't care for drinking. He was sober too, he'd promised he wouldn't get drunk on their actual anniversary, that they'd separate from the guys and do all kinds of cheesy shit. They'd decided to do the cheesiest thing you could do in Vegas. They were going to get married at a chapel in a casino. She said no to the Elvis impersonator, Bobby was the only Elvis impersonator she cared to see. Ever.

"Yes, but my Mom has to be here."

"I thought you didn't want to tell anyone." She shrugged.

"My dad will kill you if he finds out we're getting married on a whim, after having only dated for a year. Same with most of the guys, but mom has to be here. She'll keep quiet about it if I ask her too." He nodded, and grabbed her cell phone from his pocket.

"Call your mama and let's get hitched baby." She squealed and kissed him, which delayed her calling her mother for about an hour or so.

"Mom?" She asks when the phone stops ringing.

"Yeah baby?"

"Is dad with you?"

"Nope, him and Tig are playing the ponies at the MGM." The two girls snorted. They both knew that they were playing the kitschy miniature horse racing game that was set up at the MGM. "Why, what's going on? You need something baby?"

"Juice and I are getting married. Will you be our witness?" She could hear Gemma spit out whatever she had been drinking.

"You're doing what without your father their? Do you want Juice dead? Cuz baby there are easier ways to get your father to kill him. All you gotta do is put your panties in his coveralls." Beth was a little worried that her mother had been thinking about getting her boyfriend killed, but not shocked. She had a plan for everything. Just in case.

"What? Mom, no. We want to get married, but I know dad would flip if he found out we were getting married so soon. I'll tell him after he see's how good we are. You know, in a few years."

"Is he gonna ink you before then." The women knew plenty of wives that had never gotten ink. Having a crow was a little more permanent than marriage.

"We've decided to not put a crow on me until we see time apart, you know from jail time, or if dad sends me away during trouble." Gemma smiled, her baby girl was smart. Not tatting her body until she'd seen the darkest times. "I mean I'm sure that we'll make it, but I don't really know do I?"

"Is getting married today gonna be what makes you happy?"

"Yes."

"You got a dress?"

"No?"

"Alright. I'm coming to your room. We're are going to buy you a proper dress to get married in. Have Juice go get a button up or something. If you're getting married you're wearing a fucking wedding dress."

And that was Gemma's condition to keeping the wedding from the rest of the Sons. They went shopping and found the perfect dress. It was simple, but elegant, off-white, sleek and sexy. Gemma paid for the most expensive package, the one with all the pictures, in cash so Clay wouldn't find out. Juice gave her his pinky reaper skull ring as her wedding ring, she'd wear it on a necklace until they told everyone, then he'd get her a girly ring. He moved his ring from his ring finger on his right hand to his left hand. It was subtle none of the guys would notice. Gemma mentioned to Beth about how she should call her mother and let her know. Beth laughed hysterically before stating 'if my father doesn't know, I'm not telling that cunt.' Gemma thought that was fair.

_Authors note: sorry about the language there at the end guys. I know some people really get offended by the C-word. It just felt like the right choice for the complete lack of respect and hatred that Beth had towards her birth mother. I promise I won't use it very often.  
_


	17. Chapter 17: March 2008

**March 2008**

"Is he going to sleep on our couch every night?" Nikki had wandered into her sisters bedroom, she was sitting in bed knitting. Of all the things you could expect a girl that grew up with a motorcycle club to do it was not knit. She answered without looking up.

"Him or one of the other guys are going to be here probably every night for the next month or so. Once talk about me slows down with the Mayans they'll stop sleeping here as much. He's here to keep us safe. Just don't talk to him unless you're offering him food or he talks to you first, kay?" She looked up at her sister than, "Happy knows that you're to be protected too, but he takes a while to warm up to people, and even then it's a lukewarm."

"You guys seem to get on just fine." She'd noticed that her sister took comfort in the grouchy biker, but he just scared her.

"Well I've known him mostly my whole life. We've had some tough times in the past, and Happy always got put on my detail."

"Because he's so good at fighting?"

"Because I'm not afraid to die for that little girl." Nikki hadn't noticed he'd come up to the door way, she jumped when he spoke.

"Happy has gotten many injuries protecting me. Dad put us in good hands. Kozik was a marine, he's an amazing fighter too. He won't hesitate to shoot someone, so if you've got someone that might be coming over in the middle of the night you should clear it with them." Happy showed a scar low on his abdomen with a cheesy grin, it had been the first wound he'd gotten in her defense.

"Happy, she doesn't think your scar is sweet like I do. She didn't grow up in the life, you're probably scaring her."

"Why do you have so many happy face tattoos?"

"Don't answer that Happy." She shoots the killer a look, she doesn't like to order him around. He didn't like taking orders from anyone but the national president or the president of the charter he was in. He listens because he's not the asshole that everyone thinks he is. He doesn't want to scare Clay's oldest daughter.

"I'm gonna go get some smokes, do you need anything Libby?" They'd called her Libby when she was a baby, if Happy wasn't calling her little girl, which he usually didn't when she had her little girl near her, he called her Libby.

"Can you get some whole milk for Cissy? I think we're almost out. I've got some cash in my purse."

"I can get the kid some milk Libby. I wouldn't have asked otherwise." He looked at the other woman, "do you need anything?"

"I don't think so. If you want breakfast if I'll make it in the morning if you pick up the stuff for it." He nods his head, and turns to leave.

"You should get stuff for french toast Hap, Nikki makes great french toast." He grins again, Beth knows that Happy loves french toast.

Once he leaves the two go back to their conversation.

"Is it safe for him to just sleep with his gun in his hand? I mean he has the safety on right." Nikki whispers, not wanting to offend the Tacoma Killer.

"Yes the safety is on, yes it's safe. Happy has never shot anyone or anything for that matter that he hasn't meant to."

"What about Caution?" Beth looks up from her knitting confused.

"Caution? Do you mean Kozik?" Beth laughs as her sister nods. "He's not as good as Hap, but he'll put the gun down before he goes to sleep. He usually sleeps with the TV on though, so don't be alarmed if you hear some dumb lifetime movie." Nikki out right laughed at the mention of lifetime movies, but she felt a little better about the armed bikers on her couch now.


	18. Chapter 18: November 2008

**November 2008**

"Are you..." Nikki paused, mostly shocked at the sight and sounds before her, "listening to Taylor Swift?"

She had come home from work and found her younger sister dancing around the house blasting the country/pop stars vocal stylings. Upon hearing her sisters inquiry she stopped, seemed to think through her answer before visibly shrugging it off.

"Yep, I fucking love T Swift." A biker with blonde spiked hair comes out of the nursery carrying a red eyed Cissy.

"Beth, how many times I gotta tell ya, calling her that don't make it thug life." Then the biker shocked Nikki further before singing along to the chorus. His high falsetto, or at least attempted falsetto belting out how he was feeling twenty-two was too much for the older girl.

"You're all bat shit crazy." She turned and walked right back out of the house. She could hear the two laughing inside before her sister followed her out, she had Cissy and was dancing up to her with a big grin.

"Aw c'mon Nik, 'everything will be alright if you keep me next to you'" Nikki had to give her credit, she wasn't a bad singer, she finally relaxed taking the toddlers hands and dancing with them.


	19. Chapter 19: March 2004

**March 2004**

It was sloppy and wet. Not romantic, perfect and sweet like in movies or book. She didn't feel magic the first time his lips touched hers, she felt reluctant. If she kissed him back and they ended up in bed would the club think that she was a pass around now. Logically she knew they wouldn't. Even if this was just going to be a one time thing, she was second generation club, related by blood to the national president, by marriage to the veep and queen. If she hooked up with one member of Sam Crow she would not become a pass around, but she could become an old lady.

His hands weren't even touching her. He'd just leaned down and planted one on her lips. Truthfully they'd been dancing around this for months now. She'd watch him, sleeves rolled up, covered in a sheen of sweat that made him sexy not disgusting, his muscles flexing as he would lift parts. He was genius at fixing cars and working on computers. He was younger than any of the guys that had prospected before, we'll except Jax and Opie. They didn't count though, they were only prospects for appearances sakes. They were both getting in because their fathers were the founders of the club. Even if they hadn't been fit for club life, they would have let them in.

Finally he put his hands on her face, angling her head better, and then he pressed his tongue against her lips. She opened them without thinking, his hands moved to her hips and gripped hard. Her hands moved to the nape of his neck and played with the hair that was growing in. He squeezed her hips harder, hard enough to bruise, and moved her against the pool table. She climbed onto her tiptoes, he took the hint and lifted her the rest of the way. Her panties were probably drenched now, and she could feel, as he stepped between her legs and rubbed himself against her, that he was just as turned on as she was.

"Are you fucking serious!" The door to the clubhouse slammed open, they ignored it, "Prospect, get the fuck off my baby sister." She pulled her mouth away then, so did Juice, he had even taken a step away from the pool table. His hands were still on her hips, hers had moved to his shoulders. She needed something to hold onto after a kiss like that.

"I'm not a baby Jackson. If I want to kiss the prospect I will." She was a little angry by his reaction, "how many times have I seen you in the same position, or a more compromising position then this one with that crank whore you call a wife."

"Whatever Bits. Look after yourself." He slammed his way through the clubhouse before she heard the door to his room slam. The fact that he was at the clubhouse this late, and hadn't defended Wendy meant that they were having another fight. Normally she'd check on him, ask him what was going on, but right now all she wanted to do was fuck the prospect. She leaned her head down towards his again, ready to kiss him this time, but he was looking at her funny.

"What?"

"Why's he call you Bits?" She laughed before speaking.

"I was really small when I was a baby-"

"When you were a baby? Your still pretty small." She shushed him before continuing.

"He said I was an itsy bitsy thing. So the club called me Bitsy for awhile, eventually it was just him and Mom calling me that, and it got shortened to Bits." Then he kissed her, and she knew that it wasn't just going to be a one time thing with him. If he cared about a stupid nickname, he cared about her.


	20. Chapter 20: April 2008

**April 2008**

"What do you mean Tara's back?" Her voice had taken a hard edge during the conversation with her mother. She had loved Tara, had been devastated when she left. But she wasn't glad that the girl she'd considered an older sister was back. She was horrified that her brother had to handle this without her. Beth knew he was grown, but she was the only person he talked through his feelings with. She had seen how wrecked he was when she first went away. Had watched him hide it from everyone else for the rest of the 13 years since she'd been gone.

"Her Dad died, she had to come back." Gemma wasn't happy about Tara coming home either, she'd seen the girl at the grocery store and spoken to her briefly. No doubt trying to figure out the doctors motives for showing up in Charming 14 years too late.

"She could have just come home and packed shit up and left again. If Jax see's her he's going to be wrecked. That bitch wears his crow and she fucking left him."

"I know baby." She felt bad about calling and telling Beth, when she was too far away to take care of the brother that she adored.

"You have to keep them separated mom. He can't deal with Wendy, Abel, and Tara. He'll lose focus and end up getting hurt."

"I know, I just wanted to let you know. I know he calls, I need you to tell me if you think something is going on with him so I can try and step in."

"Yeah, I can do that. I've gotta go, my break is over. Love you mom."

"Love you too baby girl." Beth was not happy about the latest news from Charming. She just wanted to be home already.


	21. Chapter 21: March 9th 2008

**March 9th 2008**

Her head bounced on the concrete, she didn't cry from the pain of the impact. She just rolled over, pushed herself back up and took her attacker to the ground. She could control the fight better on the ground, she was a fairly small girl, with short arms and legs. She couldn't win a traditional fight, but she was strong enough, and good enough that she could choke this bastard out.

Her opponent was a bulky Mexican, who appeared to know nothing about mixed martial arts. This could easily work to her advantage. She closes her eyes and concentrated, like Juice had taught her. Get behind him, lock your leg under your knee, keep him from rolling towards you. She wrapped her right arm around his fat neck, until his Adam's apple was in the crook of her elbow. She brings her left arm up, putting her right forearm in the crook of her left arm, her left hand pushes against the back of fatty's head, pulling him tighter into her hold. She keeps squeezing until after his body goes limp. She pulls herself away from his unconscious form, and runs and hides in the bathroom of the science and tech building.

She notices the dull throb of her head, and realizes she might have a concussion when she has to type out a text to her father, brother and husband three times before it made any sense. She was going to need a rescue, she only had one clip on her, and she wasn't really wanting to shoot up her own campus if she didn't have too. She needed bigger guns in the literal sense of the phrase right now.

She remembered that Juice was still in Nevada after sending him the text. She knows that at the very least her father is putting her on lock down at the clubhouse after this. She texts her mother to please pick up Cissy from Neeta's house and take her to the clubhouse. She didn't want her baby to get caught in the cross fire.


	22. Chapter 22: April 1997

**April 1997**

Before Tara left, she'd been different. She had been tough, confident and self-assured. Well as confident as any girl could be when she had a mean drunk for a father. She had been around the majority of Beth's life; she really was a big sister to the girl.

Beth remembered going to the station a few times to pick Tara up; had to be at least three times. Her Daddy was always too drunk to bail her out. The first time it was a minor in possession, she had been drunk and wandering around town. Her and Jax had gotten into it, she was 17. Gemma and Beth picked her up two more times before Tara finally fled. She blamed the club for the fact that the other two charges had been for assault.

She was scrappy, and she didn't take shit from anyone but Gemma, who she viewed as a mother figure, and patched members, who she knew would keep her safe if she wasn't a pain. So when Jax went from awkward to hunky, and the sweetbutts started offering blow jobs instead of sodas, Tara started hitting bitches. That right there was a lack of respect. And Tara didn't tolerate disrespect. Those women knew that her and Jax were together, that they had been together for years.

Beth had a very vivid memory, from a month or so before Tara left. They were at T-M, sitting on a picnic bench. The older girl was smoking a cigarette and helping the younger girl with her homework. Jax was under a car, he'd been working as a mechanic at T-M since he turned 16. Tara looked down at the younger girl, and put the hand that wasn't holding a cigarette on the preteens.

"Hey Beth," Tara never spoke to Beth like a child. It was one of the reasons that she adored her brother's girlfriend.

"What's up T?"

"If you really wanted something, but it meant you might not get to be with people you loved any more, would you still do it?"

"If it was my dream, my family would understand, they'd help me make it work. Just like we would help you make your dream work."

"Okay," Tara hesitated for a few minutes before she stood to dispose of her cigarette butt in a trash bin. "Hey Beth?"

"Yeah?"

"You've gotta fight in this world, I'm telling you this because you're in it, no matter what, this club is in your blood. But sometimes, you gotta be like your Momma, not like me. Sometimes you have to fight with your mind. But when you have to, you beat the shit out of anyone that threatens what's yours okay?"

"I know Tara, is this about that sweetbutt? The one you got arrested over? Cuz mom and I had a conversation with her, and she's not coming back anymore." Tara shook her head. "She's not pressing charges either."

"What would I do without you?" Tara ruffled the girl's hair before leaning down over the spiral notebook. "Okay, to solve for x, you need to get it by itself on the other side of the equation."


	23. Chapter 23: December 2000

**December 2000**

"Why do they make us do this?" Moxie complains, pushing another cart to the front of the store. They had been given the task of getting groceries, toiletries, and other necessities that they were going to need for the coming week. Gemma had even called in a booze order that the girls were picking up. Members from every charter were coming for a visit, occasionally the national Prez called a gathering so that he could make sure all of the charters were still loyal.

"I know Mox, but this weekend is going to be worth all of the grunt work that they're making us do."

"Its shit like this that makes me get why Tara left." After seeing the younger girl freeze the tall blonde stretches an arm out, pulling the small brunette against her, "sorry babe, I forget how close you were. I know it still hurts."

"No I get it Moxie, grocery shopping sucks." She pulled another empty cart, and snatched the list from the older girl, "We should call a prospect, and have him bring another truck so we can get all this shit back to the clubhouse."

The girls easily finished their shopping, picked up the booze and chatted while the prospects loaded up the trucks with the food. When they got back to the club, they let the prospects unload the supplies while they went around changing sheets in all of the dorm rooms. Presidents got rooms; everyone else either crashed with someone with a spare room from red wood original or camped out in the T-M parking lot. The entire weekend was going to be filled with one hell of a party, and Gemma had promised they could go to the party if they helped get everything ready.


	24. Chapter 24: March 2009

**March 2009**

"Piney did what?" She asks the unusually joyful nomad hit man. He nods and smiles, pointing to the limping Tig Trager.

"He backed the flatbed into a motel room, so we could rescue the fucking cripple." Beth couldn't help but laugh as Tig continued to scowl at them.

"That's amazing. I love it when Piney flies off the handle. That old man is insane, and it makes him so much fun. I'm buying him a bottle of patron."

"Just don't tell your Dad about that little girl, he's not too happy about it. Him and Jax have been butting heads. Any chance you can work to smooth it out?" Tig had stumbled his way over to the bar where the two were sitting, putting in his advice and requests. Beth sighs and shakes her head.

"Every few years Jax gets this 'Clay's not my Dad' bug up his ass and has to rebel. To be fair, sometimes he's got reasons. Like when he was super pissy after Dad raised his fist to mom at the porn hub? I was pretty pissed about that too." Happy didn't provide any input to that statement.

"You know I wouldn't let him just hit Gemma right? I mean prez or not, unless he's got a damn good reason I'm not going to let him hit the queen." It was the side of Tig that most people didn't see. He was an asshole, but if you belonged to someone that he cared about he generally cared about you too. Beth leaned over and gave him a side hug.

"I know Tigger, you won't let nobody hurt my Momma." It was something he'd promised when she was little and JT had still been alive. Gemma had always been Beth's mom. Even when Beth's biological mother was still around.


	25. Chapter 25: 2010

**2010**

"You let my husband get shivved."

"Baby girl, it wasn't like-"

"After you used him as bait! You almost let some mad put a dick in his ass? What the fuck dad! He's the father of your granddaughter." Clay had known he was going to get it as soon as she'd handed the baby off to Jax. Hand really known he was in the shitter when she punched him in the face. The two had never had any physical altercations. They'd fought, rarely but they had fought.

"Honey, I never thought anything would happen to him."

"You had to utter the words 'Juice is gonna live.'" She huffed and paced away from her father, no doubt so she wouldn't hit him again. "He's my old man dad. I understand that you're still pissed we never told you we got married, but you almost let the man I love die." Her anger was slowly winding down, he could tell that she was mostly worried, and upset that he father and brother hadn't taken better care of the most important man in her life.

"Beth, I'm sorry, I swear I didn't think the Aryans would do that."

"He was the only person in lock down that they could tell wasn't white."

"Hap's half Mexican!" Her father's protest was weak, and he knew it.

"He looks white with a sweet tan. They went after my boy cuz he's brown. You know I hate this race shit. I'm a step away from taking that little blonde bitch down. I'll hurt Zobelle if you don't."


	26. Chapter 26: 2002

**2002**

"Get out." There were tears streaming down her face, but her voice didn't show it. She was Sam Crow second generation, she would not let a man know he'd made her cry.

"Babe, it wasn't what it looked like."

"I said get out!" She threw an ashtray at him, her once steady voice becoming shrill and furious.

He dodges the ashtray, turns and walks out the door. He slams it shut behind him. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't let this happen again, and then she just let him in again. She sinks to her knees, right there in the kitchen and sobs.

That's where her mother finds her a while later. She crouches down, making herself eye level with the teenager, nudges her chin up, forcing eye contact. She makes disapproving noises.

"Chin up buttercup. You'll find yourself a real man soon. You can cry for that idiot tonight, but tomorrow I don't want to see anymore tears for him. He was never worth your time baby girl." She wraps the girl in her arms, squeezes her tightly, because she knows that her baby is hurting, and she wants to castrate that little fucker for causing it. "Want to go shopping baby? Moxie and Luann were going to go done to Sacramento tomorrow. We can play hooky and go too?"

While the girls were shopping the next day Jax and Opie jumped Beth's new ex, there was no way in hell that he got to cheat on a one-percenters baby sister and think there would not be repercussions.


	27. Chapter 27: 2002

**2002**

She couldn't breathe. She was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. This could not be normal. Moxie had shown up on her doorstep with a wicked smirk and a bag of weed. While Beth had seen every member of her family smoke, she'd never been interested in trying it. But Moxie, as always, wouldn't talk no for an answer. They'd smoked in the living room. Her mother usually smoked in there so it already smelt vaguely of pot. The two had then raided the kitchen before sneaking off to hide out in Beth's room.

"What the fuck are you doing Mox!?" The older girl was strutting around in Jackson's clothes, doing her best impression of the youngest club member. Jax had just walked into his sisters bedroom and witnessed the impression. "You're doing it all wrong!"

He takes the hat she's wearing, puts it on and proceeds to demonstrate his 'swagger.' Knowing that if word got out that he'd used the term swagger he would never live it down. He takes in the wrappers around the bed and looks at his sisters red eyes.

"Elizabeth Morrow, are you high?"

"No." She attempted to keep a straight face, but burst out laughing before the short word was even out. He looked between the two girls, and he knew it had to have been Moxie's idea.

"Did Moxie get you high?" He knew his sister would never narc, but her reaction was ridiculous.

"Mox! The window!" And with that he stood, shaking with laughter as they clambered out the window, and ran through the backyard, making three attempts to hop the fence to the Delaney's own backyard.


	28. Chapter 28: September 2008

September 2008

Nikki walked into the living room to a shocking sight. She thought she was getting used to shocking sights living with her sister. Last week she'd walked in on Beth strolling around the house buck naked. The week before that the girl had been scrubbing the entire house; today though was shocking because what she was doing didn't fit with what Nikki thought her personality would be like. Nikki was realizing that very much of what she thought her sisters personality should be like, wasn't the case.

Beth was sitting on the couch, a spoon in a pint of ice cream, Kozik, the blonde biker was sitting next to her, bouncing Cissy on his knee with a slobbery spoon sticking out of his mouth. That of course was a sight she was used to seeing, what was shocking was the commentary between the two and the show playing on the television.

"Why don't they just admit that they love each other." Beth sounded exasperated. Kozik spit something out around the spoon, and apparently him and Beth had been doing this enough that she could understand what he was saying. "She's not autistic Koz."

The two were watching Bones, and more than that they were completely entrapped in Bones.

"Are you watching Bones?"

"Yep, we've been watching it all day."

"Oh, productive day off I see," Nikki teased as a way of showing she cared. "Now why are we watching Bones?"

"I just finished Angel and David Boreanez is too fucking hot to not watch him brood."

"He doesn't brood in Bones."

"Oh he broods in Bones." Kozik shocked and disgusted the sisters when he took the spoon out of his mouth and added to the conversation. The disgusting part, was of course putting his drooled on spoon back into the carton of ice cream.

"Dude," Beth groans, looking at the ice cream he had violated, until she just shrugs her shoulders and takes another spoonful. "You better not have herpes Koz." Nikki snorted at her little sister.

"What season are we on?" She asks sitting on Kozik's other side and taking the baby from him. They filled her in on what had happened so far, "What are we doing for dinner?"

""Koz ordered a pizza. Should be here soon, don't worry, he got breadsticks too." Nikki wished that she hadn't shrieked with joy.


	29. Chapter 29: 1994

1994

Some of the people in Charming looked at the club with awe and thought that they wanted to be a part of the life. Others were passive about the presence of the motor cycle club. The last third of the town population looked down on the members of the club, the wives, hang arounds, sweetbutts and even the children associated with the club. The majority of the popular kids at school were part of the third group.

Beth had many memories of crying to her mother because her friend's parents wouldn't let them come over and play. She'd had parties where only club affiliated children had been allowed to attend. She had a very vivid memory of sitting at the public pool that they'd rented out for her 6th birthday and just sobbing surrounded by birthday decorations because the only people that had shown up were Jax, Moxie, Opie and her mother. In the end she assumed that was why she valued the club so much, because they had always been there.

The majority of the athletic boys in school didn't agree with Sam Crow's presence in town, and by they didn't agree, we of course mean that their parents didn't agree. Beth always walked from the elementary school to the high school, they were only separated by the football field and Moxie would walk with her. At the high school they'd meet Jax and Opie and they'd all go back to Teller-Morrow together.

The girls were walking across the field one day when she saw her brother, walking up to meet them. They then watched as what appeared to be the entire football team jumped him. She remembered letting out a blood curdling scream, dropping her backpack and running to the fight as soon as she could. When your family was in trouble, you helped. Even if you were only 9, you ran towards the fight and put whatever muscle you had with whatever muscle they had and hoped you came out on top. Those were the same reasons that Moxie was running towards the fight as well. Right before she jumped onto the closest guy to her she saw Opie come running from the building.

She threw her little fists into the man that was kicking her older brother, her hero, in the ribs, and used as much force as she could muster. If needed she would use her teeth and nails, but first she would try the training that Chibs had given her, and the nasty little tricks that Tig and Happy had taught her. Punching the man didn't seem to cause him any pain, so she bit him as hard as she could low on the stomach, this caused him to bend down to shoo her away. She took the opportunity to cling to the man's neck and shove her tiny thumb straight into his eye socket. He flung her off of him, but she'd gotten him good enough that he didn't return to the fight. Before Beth stood to go after the next guy, she saw one of the older boys with a grip of Moxie's hair. It seemed that he'd gotten tired of beating on Jax and decided to beat on a little girl instead. Beth headed towards the older girl. Before Beth got there, they heard whistles blowing. It seemed that Tara had seen the commotion when she was walking down to meet them, and noticing the amount of people they were fighting, decided to get some back up. The back up came in the form of a more club friendly P.E. teacher. Mr. Carson was walking towards the group of flying fists blowing a whistle, shouting threats of explosion, and in case the former two did not work, a baseball bat.


	30. Chapter 30: 2008

2008

"Move your ass Beth." She remembered when she'd only carried purses with long straps that she could wear on the back of a bike. Back before Cissy, when times had been more dangerous for the club and the families connected to it. She nodded at the bald biker, and ignored the tears that were stinging her eyes. She got a bag together for Cissy quick, she'd learned when she was little that you needed a bug out bag, so hers was already packed.

They'd spotted Mayan's, and this far north that was unusual, considering that they'd moved Beth to Washington because of an attack from the Mayan's it made the Tacoma president a bit nervous. He'd sent Happy, Kozik, and Mayday down to get her out of town. Kozik would drive Beth and Cissy in the car, he'd done street racing as a kid and knew better than any of the others how to drive it like you stole it. They would follow Mayday and Happy would cover their asses.

"I can't believe your making me drive that fucking cage." The statement was seething and with Happy she'd let something like that go but she wasn't taking it from Kozik.

"You know what Koz, why don't you just put Narcissa on your gas tank, that way she doesn't just slip off during your evasive maneuvers." She knew she shouldn't get snippy with him, he was stressed out about keeping her and her baby safe. He could maneuver much better on a bike than a car, but he was the best out of the bikers available to drive cars. He'd done it enough before joining the club and switching primarily to cage-less transport. The look he gave her told her to apologize. "Shit, Koz I'm sorry. My nerves are just shot and I thought this kind of shit wouldn't happen here." She thought about it, "and you like my car. You helped me pick it out because you knew you might have to drive it."

"Just hurry up Beth." He picked the baby up from the crib, taking Beth's bug out bag to the car. He grabbed the bag that Beth had in the kitchen, it was filled with food for Cissy and some snacks for her in case anything happened. He waited in the car, knowing that it wasn't going to take her much longer to get ready, he strapped the baby into her car seat, he gave her the stuffed bear that she liked to chew on during car rides. He sent out a text message letting Charming know that they'd picked her up and were about to take her out of town for a little while.


	31. Chapter 31: 2002

2002

It was lunch, Beth and Moxie were sitting in the courtyard throwing lettuce at each other and laughing. The laughter stopped when they heard the Harley's. They threw their bags over their shoulders and ran for the parking lot, they didn't get picked up on Harley's in the middle of the day unless it was arranged or an emergency. Beth ran for Tig's Harley as Moxie climbed onto the back of her Dads. They clipped their helmets seconds before the bikes zoomed off. They didn't bother with eye protection until they'd gotten onto the highway out of Charming. They sped to meet up with the rest of the club. They'd sent the two fastest riders to get the girls.

Beth didn't like riding behind Tig, it never felt as comfortable as riding with any of the others. He never warned her before speeding up, never checked to make sure she was okay, and he hated riding double. When they'd caught up to everyone else and finally stopped for gas Moxie switched to ride behind Opie, letting Luann ride with Otto and Beth climbed behind her brother. He squeezed the hand that was wrapped around his waist.

"They threatened all of you by name. They knew when you'd be in what classes. We're going to visit Koz and Happy for a little while." He patted her hand and revved up the bike following Bobby and Chibs. The procession only had single riders on the edges of the group.

The club prided themselves on not needing to leave town to protect themselves, but they weren't just protecting themselves right now. They weren't going to leave innocent, well moderately innocent, women to get picked off by gang bangers. Threatening women and children was low, and the club had no way of knowing if they were an idle threat, so they were taking the families away, at least until the threat was dealt with. Gemma, Beth, Luann and Moxie were going to Tacoma, they were the only ones called out by name. The other local families were going to stay with family, their men were allowed to transport them to safety and when they got the call, they would return to Charming to help the rest of the club.


	32. Chapter 32: June 15th 2009

June 15th 2009

When she was first allowed to come home she was shocked by how different it was. Wendy was completely out of the picture, which was nice, if she couldn't even stay clean long enough to give birth to Abel, than she wasn't good enough to be a part of their family. Tara had taken over Jackson's house, and was taking over being a mother to Abel. Well, as much of a mother as Gemma would allow. She had mixed feelings about Tara being home. Beth loved Tara; she was the older sister that she had craved for when she was growing up. On the other hand, she loathed what Tara did to her brother and the rest of the family when she left.

Tara had been close to the whole family, which was why the entire club had been shocked when Tara had fled. She'd gone home to her father's one night, which was strange in itself, but occasionally it would happen when she wasn't feeling well. The next morning, she hadn't shown up to the clubhouse, she hadn't been at her father's when Beth and Gemma had gone looking for her, the three were supposed to be going shopping.

Hence Beth's complete confusion that first day back, when Juice helped her climb out of the car, and there Tara is, baby on her hip, smile on her face. She was standing closer than the members of the club, as if she expected to be greeted before the men that she had missed for over a year. Beth walked right past the bitch and right into Jackson's open arms, she'd missed her brother and her 'uncles', and they hadn't left, so she greeted them first. By the time she got back around to Tara the smile was off of her face.

Jax wrapped her in his arms again, before taking his niece from Juice. "It's good to have you home sis." Beth reaches towards his brothers girlfriend and collects her nephew, covering his face with kisses as he looks at her with big eyes.

"It's good to be home. Right Tara?"


	33. Chapter 33: June 14th 2009

June 14th, 2009

Happy was getting released today. Clay had wanted to leave the day before, when Beth had been released from the hospital. They'd spent anytime not at the hospital packing up her belongings, the accident made her father realize that shit happened, and it was better if shit happened close to home so that he could get to her sooner. He hadn't liked having to drive 11 hours, speeding the entire way as a nervous wreck, especially with his wife clutching to his back, terrified that her baby wasn't going to make it and she wasn't going to be there.

Beth had insisted that they stay at least until Happy had gotten out of the hospital, he'd saved her life. The least she could do was get him settled. Even though Clay was itching to get home, he couldn't argue with that logic.

He was wheeled out of the hospital, which Beth assumed was only because the doctor had kept Happy drugged so that he wouldn't have to deal with his attitude. Beth moved the nurse out of the way, instead getting Happy out of the wheel chair with the help of Juice, and getting him situated in the front seat of the car. Juice was driving, drugged or not, Happy was not being driven around in a cage by a woman. Besides, her leg was broken, she couldn't drive anyway.

When they got back to the clubhouse, she helped him out of the car, and to his dorm room. The going was slow, with her in her walking cast, and him high as a kite, but she didn't want anyone else to help. She got him settled onto his bed and sat next to him. She hugged him loosely, being mindful of his damaged ribs.

"Thank you," if he could hear the tears in her voice he ignored it.

"I had to get you back to your family Mama." He kissed her on the temple, which was something she doubted he'd ever done to anyone but his own mother. She was shocked at the endearment he used; he'd never outright referred to her being a mother before.

Her and Happy had a strange relationship, he'd watched her grow up, been _her_ protector since the first crisis after her birth. It had caused her to become the only person he was, well his version, of sweet to. The two would never say it to each other, but they loved each other, he was like some strange mix of a father, uncle and brother. His place in her life; was always primarily her protector, but their interactions had changed as she'd grown older. She'd never loved him romantically, but she couldn't picture her life without him in it. She had been thrilled that he was their when she'd gone into labor with Narcissa, he was the first person that was not immediate family that had met her. He protected them both now.


End file.
